Ijvtejvtor



- o 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. MILLER. LEAP TURNER No. 415,051. Patented'Nov. 12, 1889.

52 WITNESSES a 61 @fiza.

aka/ML.

R 0 M m m 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. MILLER.

LEAF TURNER (No Model.)

No. 415,051. Patented Nov. 12, 1889.

INVENTOR m M .dttorney UNIT13D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES MILLER, OF DETROI", MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONEIIALF TO AVERY L. THOMPSON, OF SAME PLACE.

LEAF-TU RN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,051, dated November 12, 1889.

' Application filed September 7, 1888. $erial No. 284,821. (No model.)

' To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that 1, JAMES MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in l\Iusic-'1urners; and I declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention consists of the combinations of devices and appliances hereinafter specified, and .more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of one of my improved music-turners as the same would appear in use. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same,with the. music removed. Fig. 3 is an end elevation against the lower edge of the device. Fig. 4 illustrates the latches whereby the leaf-turners are held andby means of which the player may trip the same. Fig. 5 shows one of the wires split to receive the music-leaf. Fig. 6 is a cross-section showing the relative positions of the stems of the leaf-turners and the retaining rod or wire to hold the book in place.

0 Fig. 7 is a variation illustrating how a spring may be made to embrace and retain the heel or stub of a piece of sheet-music which has been so worn as not to be readily held by the retaining-wire.

5 In carrying out myinvention, A represents a series of turning'wires, which may be of any desired number. Three are shown in the drawings, which would adapt the device for turning three leaves in succession. These 40 wires each have a stem at, and at its upper end is a spiral spring a, fastened at one end to the wire and at the other end to the frame B, to which the wires are fixed, or to some other prominent part. Each of these wires is bent at its lower end so as to form an arm a and at the extremity of the arm is an upwardly-turned end a to engage a leaf to be turned. Orepresents latches. Each has a detent c to engage the corresponding wire a. 50. I prefer to provide each latch O withaspring a, so that the latch will yield so as to permit the wire A to enter into the detent.

D is a wire rod fastened at its lower end, back of which the open music is placed and held in position thereby.

E represents clips at the edges of the frame B, for engaging the covers of the music.

The general operation will now be understood. Music having been introduced back of the wire or rod D, its covers are engaged 6o beneath the clips E. The wires A are then engaged with their respective leaves, and the whole are carried over to the right and the wires engaged with the latches O. Now, if the operator wishes to turn the first leaf, he 6 5 presses the first key to disengage its corresponding wire. The spring a upon that wire, being in a contracted condition, throws the wire over to the left, thus turning the leaf. He may subsequently press the second and third keys at the proper times for turning the second and third leaves of the music.

Considerable difficulty has been experienced in music-turners by the fact that in turning one leaf the suction occasioned there- 7 5 by will lift and turn the next adjacent leaf.

I overcome this diliiculty by bifurcating the end a of the wire, so that the leaf to be turned is inserted down in the kerf, thus leaving a portion of the wire in front and a portion in rear of the leaf. Now, it is apparent that when the first leaf is turned, the second leaf being firmly gripped in the kerf of the next adjacent wire a, this second leaf cannot be disturbed from its position and cannot follow the first leaf, and so with the other leaves. Again, the portions a of the wires lie in a plane parallel with the frame B and close thereto. This is quite important,

in order that when the music is open the leaf will lie flat and not be curled up adjacent to the heel or stub. This necessitates a construction which will prevent the wires from interfering with each other along the portion (6 To this end- I bend the wires, as shown 5 more particularly at 0; in Fig. 3. Each wire is so bent at a" that when it is released and turns the leaf this bond will come down over those wires which are to the left of it, and so permit the portions (0 to come down close to the board and so fall upon and flatten out the leaves of the music. -It will also be observed that the wires are so disposed when engaged with the latches or keys 0 that they I cannot be released except in regular order. The first key releases only the first wire, and the other cannot be released until this first wire has been disposed of, since each wire serves to hold the remaining ones in place. Therefore, should the player happen to strike; the wrong key, no harm would ensue, and upon releasing the key its detent would immediately re-engage the wire.

Occasionally music has become so worn that its leaves have become separated or nearly so at their heels or stubs. I therefore propose to employ-aspring-clamp F, arranged in any convenientway*as,for instance, that positionshown in Fig. 7. This spring-clamp may be made continuous through several inches or throughout the entire length of the music and the music be inserted bypressing it down edgewi'se between the jaws; or, instead ofas'ingle long spring-clamp, theremay be two or more short small spring-clamps'ofa like character distributed at intervalsfor a like purpose.

Of course the springsC, connected with the key 0, maybe of any suitable character, it onlybeing necessary that the keys be made. to spring, so-as to engage thewires automatt cally.

The clip E may be ofany suitable con-I struction. I prefer, however, to make it i as shown in the drawings-*th'at is to'say, with its heel f turned into theform of a .pin or brad,which enters the frameB. Then a little distance therefrom the wire of which the clip is made is coiled upon itself, and the upper portion f is thus out the thickness of the wire from the surface of the board, being enough-to permit of the easy introduction behind it of the music-cover. Ascrew f passed through the orifice of the coils, serves to hold the clip firmly in place.

What I claim is- 1. In a music-leaf turner, the combination, with the-frame B, of spring-actuated turningwires A and keys C, each having a detent c for engaging one of said wires, said wires so arranged, one on .top of the next, that when a wrong key is struck its engaged wire will be held by the one above it, substantially as described.

2. I'n a music turner, the combination of the frame 13, the spring-actuated turningwires A, provided-with bifurcated fingers, the

keys 0, eachhaving a detent to engage one i of 5 sai'd=wires,-and the springs C, for holding 1 the keys and wires in engagement until the keys arestruck, said wires being arranged one above-the other, so t-hat when'thewrong key is struck the engaged wire will be held by "the one above it, substantially as described.

In a music-turner, the combination of the frame B, the spring-actuated turningwires A, the keys 0, each having a detent to engage one of the said wires, which are arra'nged on-eabove another, sojthat when a wrong key is struck its engaged wire will be held by the one above it, the central retaining-wire D, and the vertical spring-clips E, substantially as described. 

